Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Suame MP and Majority Leader, has explained portions of a statement he signed, in which President Akufo-Addo pleaded with some Majority MPs to allow Ken Ofori-Atta conclude Ghana’s negotiations with the IMF and present the 2023 budget. The appeal came after the majority MPs organised a press conference to demand the finance minister’s removal from office.
According to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, the president when he met the Majority MPs did not categorically say he will dismiss Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen, after the IMF negotiations and 2023 Budget reading and appropriation.
He explained in a Joy News interview monitored by GhanaWeb that, “the President did not say that. To quote his words, he said ‘let’s finish with this, the IMF and the budget thereafter, we should hold on until after these’.”
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu continued that the president’s statement could result in an ‘either or’ decision.
“It could be. I mean, either of them is subject to interpretations that ‘okay hold on after the events then we come back and discuss,’ or ‘hold on after the event I will act.’
“’I will act’ may not necessarily mean that ‘I will do that’. According to what the President told us, you hold on until…so it could be that ‘I’ll come back to consider it’ or ‘I’ll give in to your demands’.
“The plea was – hold on until after these events, the IMF discussions and the budget. In fact, I even added when there appeared to be some unclarity about what happens after the presentation of the budget, I said no if the budget is presented by a person, you’d require that same person to shepherd the appropriations.
“And that is how come for the avoidance of doubt I said let us include the appropriation so that there’s no doubt in anybody’s mind that after the budget has been read then agitations will start again,” Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noted.
About 95 NPP MPs demanded the immediate dismissal of the Finance Minister.
The MPs at a press conference stated that the continuous stay of Ken Ofori-Atta in office was delaying the IMF bailout the country is seeking due to the fact that the Minister has lost all credibility.
They demanded the President to either remove him or face a boycott of his business in Parliament.
The President, however, appealed to them for more time for the embattled Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to conclude negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before any talks of resignation.
It was the first time a group of MPs from the Majority Caucus have organised a press conference to demand the removal of one of their own – the finance minister and minister of state at the finance ministry – because they have become incompetent at the positions they occupied in government.
Since their ‘unprecedented’ press conference, the president Akufo-Addo, stepped in to plead on behalf of his ministers but the MPs decided not to back down on their request so, the president asked the MPs to allow Ofori-Atta to conclude the ongoing IMF negotiations and also present the 2023 budget statement to Parliament before they revisit the issue again.
It, however, emerged on Tuesday, November 1, a wealthy businessman after the president’s intervention also decided to meet the ‘anti-Ofori-Atta’ MPs and try to convince them to back down on their demand.
In his attempt, this influential unknown businessman is alleged to have made an attempt to present a brown envelope full of money to the over 90 MPs who organised the press conference to demand the dismissal of Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen.
“I’m told on authority that some businessman came here and tried to do something. I was told that he came here and tried to mediate in his own way what he thinks the problem is…he was repelled by the people and told he was told not to involve himself. So he went away,” Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu told Joy News in an interview.
Giving the details of their meeting with this influential businessman, Andy Appiah-Kubi, MP, Asante Akim North, told Joy FM in an interview monitored by GhanaWeb that:
“I am part of the group that organised the press conference in respect of the claim that the Finance Minister should be relieved of his position and we have been meeting on this subject matter, there was an occasion that a man approached us and wanted to mediate on behalf of the finance minister.
“We assured him that we did not have anything against the Finance Minister per se except that the public confidence in him has waned, that we have been approached by our constituents and, therefore, we thought that it was time for him to go so we will rebuild public confidence in the ministry and the government.
“The man came and talked to us about it and wanted us to turn around and [re]consider the decision…we listened to him, and he said that while he has come here to talk to us; we have given him the opportunity to address us and therefore he wants to leave something behind for us. Indeed he got somebody to bring it and we said sorry, we cannot take anything. It is not for the reason of money that we are taking this decision, we are motivated by our conscience and therefore, it is not about materialism and that it is where it ended. We returned the money to him and he took it away.”
When asked if it was an attempt to bribe the MPs, Appiah-Kubi responded “we don’t consider it as a bribe because there was nothing that we were doing to his advantage as a person so, that will not constitute a bribe. It was something that he was doing to try and get us to accommodate probably; that cannot qualify as a bribe.”
“Bribe is when you have taken something to do the things that you will otherwise not do. But he has no personal interest in the matter so why will he pay a bribe? Maybe he was trying to offer something by way of his association with us so, I won’t call it a bribe, in any case, it was not given and nobody was a beneficiary of his gift or offer,” he added.
The leader of the ‘anti-Ofori-Atta’ MPs giving clarity on who this said businessman met indicated categorically that the wealthy businessman did not meet the entire Majority caucus but the group that came out on the day to organise the press conference to demand the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen.
This businessman further noted to the aggrieved MPs that “it is not in the interest of the business community to see this confusion in governance and therefore for the sake of the business community, and their businesses, let us ensure that there is peace and tranquility in the political space. That is why he has come to talk to us.
“There was no need to investigate the group he represented neither was a need for us to investigate his personal commitment or interest in this matter; but I saw him as a statesman and somebody who has business interest in Ghana, who is interested in the tranquility that existed within the leadership of the country.”
Joe Jackson, a financial analyst with Dalex Finance, has stated the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister, won’t solve Ghana’s current economic hardships.
According to him, real change will happen only after the entire process of managing the economy and problematic policies are given a second look.
Speaking on Accra-based TV3, in an interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Mr Jackson explained “the most important thing we can do today is cut the size of government, send a signal to all of us that we are prepared to face our problems.
“If we change the people and we don’t challenge the policies, we don’t change the process, if we don’t change the thinking, nothing will change. I wish that those backbenchers had not just demanded somebody be changed but some people completely removed.
“It is not handing over from Ofori-Atta or Charles Adu Boahen to another person who will do the same thing.”
Some members of the Majority caucus on Tuesday, October 25 demanded the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta, and the Minister of State at the Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.
The MP’s during a press conference stated “we are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the President changes the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State in the Finance Ministry without further delay.”
“We want to serve notice, and notice is hereby served that until such persons as aforementioned are made to resign or removed from office, we members of the Majority Caucus here in Parliament will not participate in any business of Government by or, for the president by any other Minster,” leader of the bloc, Andy Appiah-Kubi, Asante-Akyem North MP said.
After a subsequent meeting with President Akufo-Addo, it emerged that the president had appealed for some time for his embattled ministers especially as Ghana is negotiating a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the 2023 budget is also being compiled.
P.C. Appiah Ofori, a former representative for Asikuma Odoben-Brakwa, has criticised some NPP lawmakers who are pushing for the dismissal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
He claimed that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should be the goal of the movement to remove the finance minister.
Applying a hypothetical, Appiah Ofori argued that the finance minister should be held accountable for defective roads rather than the road minister, and that the finance minister should follow the same logic.
Ofori-Atta hasn’t committed any known atrocities that would call for his dismissal, according to Appiah Ofori.
Speaking on Onua TV, he said “those doing that I don’t understand them, I don’t know the sin the finance minister has committed. If the road becomes deplorable, why do you say the road minister should resign? What sin has the finance minister committed, has he stolen money, if he has not stolen money and it is just that things have gone bad, is he the one to be held responsible? Minister of Road and Transport, and you say because a road is spoilt the minister should be sacked. Sometimes when they are doing it, they don’t give it careful thought.”
He further added that the country’s economic hardships are not the fault of the finance minister.
“What specific sin has the finance minister committed? Has he stolen the country’s money for wrongful purposes? If things are not going well in the country, how is it the finance minister’s fault?” he asked rhetorically.
The MPs want the removal of the Minister due to the current economic crisis the country is experiencing.
Following the public declaration of disapproval of the Finance Minister by the MPs, an emergency meeting was convened at the behest of President Akufo-Addo to deliberate and understand the misgivings of the MPs towards the Finance Minister.
The major fallout from the meeting was the president’s requests to the MPs to allow the finance minister three weeks to prepare the 2023 budget and conclude negotiations with the International Monetary fund.
The removal of Ken Ofori-Atta as finance minister, according to Stephen Amoah, a member of parliament for Nhyiaeso, may not stop the local currency’s free fall against important trading currencies like the US dollar.
In an interview with Accra-based Metro TV, he claimed that anyone who believe that the Cedi will appreciate as a result of the ouster of Ofori-Atta are “jokers.”
The legislator claimed that because the nation’s economy was heavily dependent on imports, it had not been robust for more than 40 years.
Stephen Amoah was responding to a question premised on calls for Ofori-Atta’s sack and Speaker Alban Bagbin’s comment that the Cedi was appreciating against the dollar as a result of motion filed by the Minority side of Parliament for a vote of censure against Ofori-Atta.
“So right now, if we sack the finance minister, dollar will come to GH₵5? We are jokers as a country. When you come to finance and economics, there is nothing like may be. It’s lazy man’s approach.
“We need to accept the fact that our economy hasn’t been strong for over 40 years. We run something we call negative effective tax rate country. Monies from government to the households and monies that government gets from households…the monies going to households are always higher than what we get as revenue,” the MP said.
President Akufo-Addo has in recent times come under pressure to reshuffle or sack some of his ministers particularly Ken Ofori-Atta over worsening economic conditions under his watch.
However, the president has rejected reshuffle calls insisting that his ministers are performing well.
On October 25, some NPP MPs organized a press confidence to demand the dismissal of Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Charles Adu-Boahen.
The group said failure by President Akufo-Addo to heed to their call will mean they will not pursue government business in Parliament.
Following this, the president held meetings with the MPs where it is reported that he has appealed to them to allow Ken Ofori-Atta in particular complete the IMF negotiations and also present the 2023 Budget and see to its appropriation.
The Majority Caucus in a statement confirmed that the demands of the MPs will be ‘acted upon’ after the conclusion of IMF negotiations and the presentation of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy in November 2022, and the subsequent passage of the Appropriation Bill.
Charles Adu-Boahen, a minister of state in the ministry of finance, has said he will remain in office despite mounting calls for him and Ken Ofori-Atta, the minister of finance, to step down or be fired by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The minister of state refuted allegations that he had quit, stating that he had never submitted a resignation.
“No sir!Never.I’ll be quoted. Charles Adu-Boahen was quoted by myjoyonline.com as saying, “I have not given my resignation.
It will be recalled that North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, in a Twitter post on October 27 suggested that the minister had tendered in resignation but questioned why President Akufo-Addo was refusing to accept it.
The MP tweeted: “Parliament may have to turn the heat on President Akufo-Addo. Why is he refusing to accept the resignation of the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Charles Adu Boahen? The President continues to downplay the profound economic crisis created by his abysmal leadership”.
Ablakwa’s comment came two days after over 80 NPP MPs demanded the sack of Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu-Boahen.
The group said failure by President Akufo-Addo to heed their call will mean they will not pursue government business in Parliament.
Following this, the president held meetings with the MPs where it is reported that he has appealed to them to allow Ken Ofori-Atta in particular complete the IMF negotiations.
The Majority Caucus in a statement confirmed that the demands of the MPs will be ‘acted upon’ after the conclusion of IMF negotiations and the presentation of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy in November 2022, and the subsequent passage of the Appropriation Bill.
The President has been petitioned to remove Charles Adu Boahen, the Finance Minister and the Minister of State in the Finance Ministry, by more than eighty (80) New Patriotic Party lawmakers.
But in a meeting with the disgruntled MPs, the President advised them to hold off until Mr. Ofori-Atta signed the agreement for Ghana to receive financial aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Tackling the issue during Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” morning show, Charles Owusu took the President’s assurance to the MPs with a pinch of salt.
According to him, the President’s statement is just “a nice way to tell the Parliamentarians that I have listened to you but I won’t do it”.
“If the 2024 elections are held and the NPP wins, will Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta continue to be the Finance Minister of Ghana?…Someone who has been in government for six (6) good years, if he couldn’t do everything he must do in 6 years, what can he do in three (3) weeks?…What change will three weeks bring?”, he asked.
Charles Owusu couldn’t “understand why it should be difficult” for the President to remove Ken Ofori-Atta “when Ghanaians and members of his party are calling for the removal of this man” as he stressed, “this country will still be governed should Akufo-Addo die today”.
Making reference to a biblical account of the freedom of the people of Israel from Egypt, he cautioned President Akufo-Addo not to harden his heart concerning the calls for removing the Finance Minister.
“Pharoah hardened his heart not to let the people of God go and his end resulted in death”, he warned the President.
The Ministry of Finance has described as false reports that President Akufo-Addo is refusing the resignation of Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.
In a statement issued on social networking site, Twitter on Friday, October 28, 2022, the Ministry said “rumors about the Honourable Minister of State tendering in his resignation are untrue” and should be treated with all the contempt it deserves.
The rumors have been fueled by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. In a twitter post, Mr. Ablakwa alleged that the President has refused to accept the resignation of the Minister of State.
Rumours about the Honourable Minister of State tendering in his resignation are untrue, and should be disregarded. Stories of this nature are unhelpful at this time, and the general public is advised to disregard them completely.https://t.co/N5q5VavQ5L
This, the Ministry says the allegations are “untrue” and “unhelpful”; urging the general public to “disregard them completely”.
Mr. Adu Boahen had come under pressure last Tuesday with some members of the New Patriotic Party in Parliament demanding his removal together with Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta for the current economic crises.
The Majority MPs insisted that the removal of both Ministers will restore confidence in the economy.
However, after meeting the President, the Majority MPs have softened their stance accepting the President’s plea to have the Ministers stay in office to seal Ghana’s bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Charles Adu-Boahen, has refuted claims that he has tendered his resignation to the President.
In a short reply to such claims he said “No sir! Never. You can quote me. I have not tendered my resignation.”
His response comes amidst calls for his removal or resignation from office as a result of the economic downturn.
On Tuesday, October 25, 80 out of the 137 majority MPs had joined calls for the sacking of the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu-Boahen citing their poor management of the country’s fiscal space.
They had also blamed the duo for the delay in the ongoing International Monetary Fund programme negotiations that is expected to give the country a bailout.
The lawmakers added, “We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the President changes the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry without further delay to restore hope to the financial sector and reverse the downward trend in the growth of the economy.”
The group led by the MP for Asante Akim North, Andy Appiah-Kubi said the failure of government to heed to their demands will result in them boycotting all government business.
“Meanwhile we want to serve notice, and notice is hereby served that until such persons as aforementioned are made to resign or removed from office, we members of the majority caucus here in Parliament will not participate in any business of government by or for the President by any other minister.
“We hope that those of us [at] the backbench and members of the majority caucus will abide by this prayer. We are saying that if our request is not responded to positively, we will not be present for the budget hearing, neither will we participate in the debate”.
Their move was applauded by the general public and civil society who had also been calling for the resignation of the Finance Minister.
However, in a U-turn, the MPs later acceded to President Akufo-Addo’s appeal to let Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu-Boahen stay in office till after the IMF deal is sorted out.
In a statement released by the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, he said, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry will stay “until the conclusion of the round of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the presentation of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy in November, 2022 and the subsequent passage of the Appropriation Bill after which time the demand will be acted upon.”
A Governance Expert Professor Baffuor Agyeman-Duah has said he supports the call by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament to the President to sack his Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry Charles Adu Boahen.
Prof Agyemang Duah said he personally made this call in the past when the economy started deteriorating.
Speaking in an interview with TV3’s Alfred Ocansey on the Ghana Tonight show, the CEO of the Kufuor Foundation said “I will be a hypocrite if I say I don’t agree [with the calls] because personally, I have made this call over the past several months since the economic started nose down.”
Pressure is being mounted on President Akufo-Addo by some Ghanaians including his own Members of Parliament, to sack the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and Mr Adu Boahen.
The Majority caucus in Parliament have threatened to boycott the presentation and debate on the 2023 budget statement if President Akufo-Addo does not remove Mr Ofori-Atta and Adu Boahen.
The NPP MPs believe that the prevailing economic situation in the country does not make it right for the two gentlemen to remain in office hence the President must ask them to go.
Addressing a press conference in Parliament on Tuesday, October 25, a lawmaker for Asante Akyem North, Andy Appiah Kubi said “We are unhappy with the developments in the country, we consulted our constituents who also expressed same sentients.
“We want the President to remove Ken Ofori and Chares Adu Boahen.
“We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the President changes the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State in the Finance Ministry without further delay.
“We want to serve notice, and notice is hereby served that until such persons as aforementioned are made to resign or removed from office, we members of the Majority Caucus here in Parliament will not participate in any business of Government by or, for the president by any other Minster.
“We hope that those of us in the back bench and members of the Majority caucus will abide by this prayer.
“We are saying that if our request is not responded to positively, we will not be present for the budget hearing neither will we participate in the debate.
A Deputy Director of Communications of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Kamal Deen Abdullah, has clapped back at the party’s Former Deputy General Secretary, Nana Obiri Boahen after the latter described the National Chairman, Stephen Ntim as a timid soul.
Nana Obiri Boahen, has criticized the approach used by the National Chairman, Stephen Ntim in handling the agitations of some NPP MPs asking for the dismissal of Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen.
He said in an interview with Okay FM that the never-before-seen action of the MPs could create political instability if not handled well.
Obiri Boahen stated that he expected the NPP chairman to have held a crunch meeting with the party leadership and its steering committee and informed them about how dire the situation was rather than issuing a holding statement.
“This is not the usual NPP and NDC politics on who did this or who did that. This is a very serious national issue that goes down to national stability of the country and western democracy. It is scary. Nothing like this has happened before in Ghana ever since Don Diego Di Azambuja landed in Ghana.
“It’s nearing 100 out of 138 MPs if you just add 20. And the chairman of the party says…what are you coming to do? Stephen Ntim what are you coming to do? If you are a timorous soul; please get out of politics. If you don’t have courage; exit politics. Stephen Ntim as the chairman of the party….this thing is scary for the party.
“The statement you issued; you have said you will hold a crunch meeting with the National Executive Committee and steering committee this Friday to inform them about the development. You said in your statement that ‘party leadership will control’… what will you control? What is coming is scary,” he said.
But Kamal Deen Abdullah who’s also a spokesperson for Chairman Stephen Ntim, responding to the comments by Nana Obiri Boahen in an interview on Okay FM took exception to the description of Chairman Ntim as “timid” saying it does not define who he is.
Urging Nana Obiri Boahen to retract the word, Kamal Deen Abdullah described Chairman Ntim as a bold and courageous person but as an experienced politician, he (chairman) also applies diplomacy and tact in handling issues when necessary for positive results.
“Chairman Ntim needed to engage with the disgruntled MPs to ensure there’s peace in the party and government. He needed to handle the matter using a good approach that will prevent further tension in the party and government and that is exactly what he did.
“Chairman Stephen Ntim believes is jaw-jawing it is not always that one has to be confrontational. We have governance to take care of, we have a party to take care of, and also a parliament to take care of. There are certain things you have to look at the timing and get your actions right. He acted well and at the right time.”
Kamal Deen Abdullah added that the Stephen Ntim led-National Executive body has a way of strategizing to ensure there’s always peace and unity in the party and further urged party members to be patient with leadership and believe in them to lead the party into victory in 2024 elections.”
On Tuesday, October 25, about 80 NPP MPs held a press conference to demand the dismissal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.
They argued that new persons when appointed to take the place of the duo will bring back the needed confidence in the economy which is struggling.
The Member of Parliament for the Asante-Akim North Constituency, Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi, who spoke on behalf of the MPs threatened to boycott the 2023 budget reading and debate if President Akufo-Addo fails to dismiss the two ministers.
But the NPP in a statement signed by Stephen Ntim said it was engaging with the government, the Parliamentary Group, and other stakeholders and called for calm.
The president subsequently held a meeting with MPs and party leadership where it was agreed that the duo especially Ken Ofori-Atta is allowed to stay in office to conclude negotiations with the IMF.
Member of Parliament (MP) for Oforikrom constituency, Ashanti Region, Dr Emmanuel Marfo in his opinion believes the Majority Caucus were in a haste to suspend their request for Ken Ofori-Atta’s dismissal.
The MP in a Facebook post on Thursday, October 27, 2022 stated that,” I read the Statement by the NPP caucus in response to the President’s plea for more time with lots of concern. I do not fully agree with it and perhaps would have been better to say we have taken all concerns on board and will do what will be in the best interest of the political and economic stability of our country”.
On Tuesday, October 25, 2022, some Members of Parliament who are part of the Majority Caucus called for the immediate dismissal of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, as well as the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.
They argued that relieving the duo of their duties will aid in fixing Ghana’s struggling economy, which has been plagued by rising inflation and debt.
In light of this, President Akufo-Addo met with the dissatisfied legislators and demanded that the Finance Minister conclude Ghana’s negotiations with the IMF and submit the 2023 Budget Statement to Parliament.
Briefly after the interaction, the Majority Caucus in a statement dated Wednesday, October 26, noted that after deliberation among members, it will withhold its current demands.
Read Dr Emmanuel Marfo’s Statement here:
*DR. EMMANUEL MARFO (MP) writes:*
Statement by the Majority caucus in Parliament on call for sacking Finance Ministers
I read the Statement by the NPP caucus in response to the President’s plea for more time with lots of concern. I do not fully agree with it and perhaps would have been better to say we have taken all concerns on board and will do what will be in the best interest of the political and economic stability of our country.
I think the turn of events post the press conference begs for some questions in order to come to a conclusion whether the action was needed in the first place. Was the grievance of the 80 MPs and their subsequent action well communicated to the leadership of the Party and the Caucus? Did the Caucus leadership communicate to the President? Did the President provide a response consistent with his plea to leadership? Did leadership convey the President’s response to the concerned MPs or the Caucus?
In effect I am asking whether there was effective engagement within us. If indeed there was, and one may say the President was ‘recalcitrant’ then the press statement may be justified, if not, then perhaps in my humble view, the press Statement was too early.
However, we are made to believe that the sentiments were rightly conveyed to the President and that his response was unfavourable to the concerns of the MPs. In that case, I dont think the MPs, and now the caucus, should have backed down on our demands. Why? Because for MPs in a ruling Party to come to a point of going public to demand of their President to sack an appointee, and no less an appointee than a Finance Minister, a lot of public pressure, political and intellectual thinking and and assessment MUST have gone into that decision.
Securing public and perhaps Party interest must have been stretched beyond its elastic limit and that nothing should stop them from going back. The MPs must have reached a point where the die is cast and that no amount of words were going to stop the crossing of Rubicon. It must be the point of no return and here the words of Sun Tzu come to mind “he will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.” Now the cake is half-baked, you cannot eat it, you can’t throw it away!
In any case, I think the response in the Statement, especially the condition that the President must sack them after the IMF and budget assignments, will even worsen the plight of the President, politically-speaking because he has been put in a very tight corner; indeed between the devil and the deep blue sea. If we were going to listen to the President’s plea, then my view is that we should not have given him any conditions and allow events to take their natural course. And indeed, if I were Ken or Charles, perhaps this is the time to have honourably resigned. Why? Because we seem to have passed a death sentence on them and that regardless of what they will do, we are only waiting for the clock to tick, just to wait for their day of cruxificion. Wow!! This is most unfair, to say the least. How would they be in the right frame of emotional, pyschological and intellectual mind to execute the very critical job for which we have been begged to wait till completed? Are we looking for quality output or just to tick the check box that a job is done?
In any case, I cannot also stand for the Statement because it defeats, fundamentally, the very principle for which we called for the cruxificion. Are we saying that regardless of the Ken-led IMF negotation, a role I dont support anyway, or how good his 2023 budget will look like, he must still go? If that is so, and indeed as the statement suggests, then we have already declared no hope in their competence and that nothing good can come from Nazareth. If indeed that is our fatal hope and expectation, then I beg to suggest that there is no need to waste any further time on these gentlemen, they must go! However, the flip side is, if for any reason, they deliver a good IMF programme and a great budget to our satisfaction, would we still insist they go? One may say, of course not but then we would have already created the fertile conditions for their dismissal by the ‘agreement’ in our Statement.
The President, and indeed all of us majority MPs, will come under immense pressure, especially when the press Statement has received immense public applause.
In summary, I think if we really came to a point of going public, then nothing should have stopped us for standing on our demands. If we were going to yield, then we should not have given any conditions to the President. Afterall, it cannot be the case that the 80 MPs did not know that Ken was busy leading an IMF negotation and that he was busy preparing the 2023 budget. It cannot be that the MPs did not contemplate the consequences of our demand on these ongoing assignments.
For me it is a zero-sum game, this symbolic win-win semblance will come back to bite us. Mark my words! He who fights and run away, lives to fight another day-Bob Marley
I like the slogan of an insurance advert, if it must be done, it must be done well. If Ken and Charles must go, they must go now, else lets forever hold our peace and pray for something good to come from Nazareth. The Parliamentary group is a very powerful, respectable and honourable arm of our Party. Next time, when we have to leap, we must weigh and watch and when we leap in the glare of the public, we must never return to base. Before we speak, we must have come to a point of no surrender, less we make mockery of ourselves. This is politics, Selah!
A political science lecturer, Dr. Abdul-Jalilu Ateku, has urged the Minority in Parliament to engage the Majority MPs opposed to the Finance Minister to ensure their support in having him removed.
Speaking on The Point of View on Citi TV, Dr. Ateku said he did not expect the President to heed the calls of 80 disgruntled Majority MPs for him to remove Ken Ofori-Atta as Finance Minister.
They also want the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen, removed.
“The Minority needs to engage with the other people from the other side since they all have the same objective of getting the Finance Minister out.”
“Leaving it for the President, the President will not remove the Finance Minister,” Dr. Ateku said.
The Minority has filed a motion for a vote of censure on the Finance Minister and made calls for support from the Majority MPs.
But the Majority MPs have indicated that they will not back the Minority.
Previous calls for the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta have been rebuffed by President Akufo-Addo, who said he would continue to back Mr. Ofori-Atta.
Responding to the recent demands by the group of Majority MPs, the President appealed to them to hold on until Ghana concludes negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.
The President noted that terminating the appointment of Mr. Ofori-Atta will disrupt the programme.
The Deputy Majority Leader of Parliament, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo Markin, has berated the minority caucus over its handling of a motion filed to get Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta impeached.
According to him, the minority is creating the impression the House (Parliament) has accepted the motion and it has the support of the majority caucus which is false.
Speaking to the press at Parliament on Wednesday, October 26, Afenyo Markin intimated that the majority are against the idea of forcing Ken Ofori-Atta to resign.
“Admissibility of questions, motions or any process is the sole mandate of Mr. Speaker. So, until your motion or any application is admitted by the speaker you cannot assume that you have the motion properly before the House.
“So, I will like to say that, simply put, they are just throwing dust into the eyes of Ghanaians. We are all aware that the whole world is in a crisis. We are all aware that government has taken steps to address this economic crisis that we face as a nation.
“As we speak, we have an ongoing negotiation with the IMF. Midway into the negotiation government cannot come and make an announcement,” he said.
Afenyo Markin, who is the Member of Parliament (MP)
for Effutu, urged Ghanaians to stop politicizing the current challenges in the country and treat it as a national issue.
The minority caucus of Parliament filed a motion to have Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State (in charge of Finance), Charles Adu-Boahen sacked.
The MPs explained that their position follows several concerns over the poor mismanagement of the economy, which has forced the government to seek IMF assistance.
The Deputy Minority Chief Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim, noted “as representatives of the people and as duty bearers, we must move a motion to call for the end of the finance minister.
“Our brothers in the majority believe in this. What they should do is to support the call of the Minority Leader and the motion for the Minority Leader for the dismissal of the finance minister.”
A private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has said he was pleasantly surprised by the press conference held by some Members of Parliament on the side of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) who called on President Akufo-Addo to sack his Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry Charles Adu Boahen.
He said this is an indication that the lawmakers are listening to concerns being raised by Ghanaians.
Mr Kpebu who earlier called for the impeachment of the President following the economic challenges, while speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday October 23, told Eric Mawuena Egbeta on the Mid day news on 3FM Tuesday October 25 that, “I was pleasantly surprised, that also means that they are listening.
“You see how on Saturday we spoke truth to power on Key Points and it resounded with Ghanaians, of course other people had made this call over and over, it means the Parliamentarians are listening , God bless them. That is the honour we were referring to on the Key Points.”
The Majority caucus in Parliament have threatened to boycott the presentation and debate on the 2023 budget statement if President Akufo-Addo does not remove Mr Ofori-Atta and Adu Boahen.
The NPP MPs believe that the prevailing economic situation in the country does not make it right for the two gentlemen to remain in office hence the President must ask them to go.
Addressing a press conference in Parliament on Tuesday, October 25, a lawmaker for Asante Akyem North, Andy Appiah Kubi said “We are unhappy with the developments in the country, we consulted our constituents who also expressed same sentients.
“We want the President to remove Ken Ofori and Chares Adu Boahen.
“We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the President changes the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State in the Finance Ministry without further delay.
“We want to serve notice, and notice is hereby served that until such persons as aforementioned are made to resign or removed from office, we members of the Majority Caucus here in Parliament will not participate in any business of Government by or, for the president by any other Minster.
“We hope that those of us in the back bench and members of the Majority caucus will abide by this prayer.
“We are saying that if our request is not responded to positively, we will not be present for the budget hearing neither will we participate in the debate.
Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin is happy with events in Parliament where 80 Members of Parliament, MPs, from his party demanded the removal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta from office.
The demand was made through an October 25 press conference addressed by Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi, MP for Asante Akim North, at the precincts of Parliament.
In a follow-up presser, after the breakaway MPs had made their demands known, Afenyo Markin flanked by four other colleagues told the media that the move was a plus for Ghana’s democracy.
He, however, stressed that it was important that the majority and minority caucuses unite and “build consensus on key issues to support the government, to me that is our main agenda but not the usual NPP, NDC partisan attacks.
“Regarding views expressed by the majority on some issues of national importance, I think that is the beauty of democracy, people having the opportunity to express their views,” he added.
He said it was important that where Ghana has gotten to in its democratic exercise, people should be voicing out instead of keeping their thoughts and viewpoints within them for fear of being gagged.
“So, we take all of that in good faith and continue to soldier on and work together for the betterment of our people,” he added.
Breakaway NPP MPs call for Ofori-Atta’s head
The group said it will not do business with the government nor support the 2023 Budget if the president fails to heed their call to remove Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.
According to them, the move follows previous concerns sent to the government that have not yielded any positive results.
“We have had occasions to defend allegations of conflicts of interest, lack of confidence, and trust against the leadership of the Finance Ministry.
“The recent development within the economy is of major concern to our caucus and our constituents. We have made our grave concern to our president through the parliamentary leadership and the leadership of the party without and positive response,” Andy Appiah Kubi said.
The MPs believe the move will change the current economic situation in the country.
“We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the president changes the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry without further delay in order to restore hope to the finance sector and reverse the downward trend in the growth of the economy,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo has pleaded with some MPs of his party, who are demanding Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta‘s exit, to give his cousin some respite so he concludes the ongoing bailout talks with the IMF.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has pleaded with some MPs of his party, who are demanding Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta’s exit, to give his cousin some respite so he concludes the ongoing bailout talks with the IMF, which are likely to be concluded in about a month.
Reports trickling in from the presidency say that the president tabled the plea when he met the angry MPs over their demand at the Jubilee House on Tuesday evening.
Ghana is seeking a $3-billion extended credit facility from the Brettom Woods institution to restore her ailing eceonomy to good fortunes.
The majority caucus gave the president an ultimatum to dismiss Mr Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Mr Charles Adu Boahen, or they will boycott the 2023 budget hearing and other government businesses on the floor of parliament.
The caucus, led by spokesperson Andy Appiah Kubi, MP for Asante Akyem North, issued the ultimatum within the precincts of parliament on Tuesday, 25 October 2022 when the house resumed sitting after a long recess.
He told the parliamentary press corps: “We are members of the majority caucus of the parliament of Ghana and we, here so, present; represent a greater number of the said caucus.”
“My name is Andy Appiah Kubi and I am only here as the spokesperson for the majority group – without more”, he caveated.
Mr Appiah-Kubi continued: “We have had occasions to defend allegations of conflict of interest, lack of confidence [and] trust against the leadership of our finance ministry”, however, “the recent developments within our economy are of great concern to the greater majority of the members of our caucus and our constituents.”
“We have made our grave concerns [known] to the president through the parliamentary leadership and the leadership of the party without any positive response,” he revealed.
“We are, by this medium, communicating our strong desire that the president change the minister of finance and the minister of state at the finance ministry, without further delay, to restore hope to the financial sector and reverse the downward trend in the growth of the economy”, the group demanded.
“The summary of our concerns lead to a plea that the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Mr Charles Adu Boahen, be removed from office. We pray that this prayer would be carried to the presidency.”
The caucus then threatened: “Meanwhile, we want to serve notice, and notice is hereby served that until such persons, as aforementioned, are made to resign or removed from office, we, members of the majority caucus here in parliament, will not participate in any business of the government by or for the president by any other minister.”
“We hope that those of us at the backbench and members of the majority caucus will abide by this prayer,” the group added.
“We are saying that if our request is not responded to positively, we will not be present for the budget hearing nor will we participate in the debate”, Mr Appiah-Kubi stressed.
Also, the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) has demanded that President Akufo-Addo reassign Mr Ofori-Atta and Mr Adu-Boahen if he cannot dismiss them.
The pro-government pressure group said in a press statement that the two ministers are to blame for the poor performance of the Ghana cedi in relation to other international trade currencies.
“The Minister of Finance and the Minister of State at the Ministry, Ken Ofori Atta and Charles Adu Boahen, must be reassigned,” the group demanded.
AFAG’s demand comes a few days after media personality and comic Kwaku Sintim-Misa, alias KSM, asked Mr Ofori-Atta to resign.
He said this in a tweet where he claimed to be giving advice to Mr Ofori-Atta.
Again in the tweet, the award-winning comic posited that President Nana Akufo-Addo, who is cousins with Ken Ofori-Atta, has no desire to sack him from his office for a more competent person to assume it, even though it is the best for Ghana’s ailing economy.
“Advice to Ken Ofori-Atta. Bra [brother] Ken, it is obvious the President cannot and will not fire you,” Mr Sintim-Misa began. “Please do him and Ghana a favour and respectfully resign for a competent financial manager to take charge,” he advised.
According to the TV show host, the resignation of the Finance Minister will be followed by restored confidence in Ghana’s economic recovery.
“I am sure that the financial markets will react positively to the news,” is how he put it.
Also, another entertainment personality, Lydia Forson, recently said: “It makes absolutely no sense that Ken Ofori-Atta is still the finance minister,” and queried: “How?” “He’s lost the confidence of the people!” she argued.
The clamour for Mr Ofori-Atta’s head come on the back of the cedi’s very poor performance against the US dollar.
Bloomberg has named the Ghana cedi as the worst-performing currency in the world.
At the time of KSM and Lydia Forson’s tweets, one needed more than 15 cedis to obtain a dollarin Accra, the capital of Ghana. Recently, the United Kingdom’s Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked and subsequently their Prime Minister, Liz Truss, also resigned.
A section of the Ghanaian public have asked why this is not common in Ghana.
President Nana Akufo-Addo, last week, said Mr Ofori-Atta has
been an excellent handler of the Ghanaian economy and, thus, sees no reason to sack him as being clamoured for by his critics.
Speaking to OTEC FM in the Ashanti Region on the first day of his four-day official working tour of that part of Ghana, Mr Akufo-Addo parried criticisms that his cousin is to blame for Ghana’s return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help since he mismanaged the economy. The president said he takes full responsibility for Ghana’s return to the IMF since he took the decision as the head of state.
He argued that the same Ofori-Atta was able to manage an IMF-programmed economy that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) inherited in 2017 to become one of the fastest-growing economies in the world with an average annual growth rate of 7%.
The president, thus, wondered, how he could cut ties with Mr Ofori-Atta as finance minister.
The president said he has a lot of difficulty understanding the clamour for Mr Ofori-Atta’s exit, since, he noted, even the IMF confirmed that the causes of the current economic situation in Ghana are global in nature rather than a result of internal mismanagement. “It is very easy for people to say we went back to the IMF due to mismanagement of the economy. I do not accept that criticism because the reasons why we got into the situation we find ourselves has very little to do with us. In fact, the IMF confirmed it.”
Ghana is currently dealing with a wave of economic difficulties, especially as of 2022’s first day.
Numerous residents are struggling with terrible conditions that have put all economic indicators in danger, including the depreciation of the Ghana cedi, skyrocketing inflation rates, and revenue generation limits, among others.
Ghanaians generally feel frustrated as a result of these circumstances.
In the face of such crisis, there have been calls for leadership, bearing in mind that managing a middle-income country like Ghana is no small feat.
For instance, one would have to be associated with varied expertise, knowledge and educational credentials spanning across development, strategy, policy, economics, statistics, political science, among others to be able to steer this ship.
To address the ongoing challenges in the economy, Ghana has resorted to the International Monetary Fund for an economic support programme.
The country is targeting about $3 billion once an agreement can be reached, with the money geared toward restoring macro-economic stability, as well as other economic indicators.
In the wake of the development, GhanaWeb Business takes a look at the key figures behind the management of the Ghanaian economy and their respective educational pedigrees, which have somewhat come under fire in the wake of the crisis.
Ken Ofori-Atta – Finance Minister
Ghana’s current Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Ken Ofori-Atta, is a key figure in the management of the country’s economy, just like the others who have occupied the position.
Ken Ofori-Atta has been meeting with the officials from the IMF since the government made a decision to seek assistance from the Fund on July 1, 2022.
At the present, Ken Ofori-Atta has been under intense pressure from his own party, as well as many citizens for him to resign from his position as finance minister, along with Charles Adu Boahen, Minister of State at the Finance Ministry; also, a close ally of Ofori-Atta.
He is an economist, investment banker, and co-founder of Databank Group, a financial services firm.
Prior to being appointed as the Minister of Finance in 2017, Ken Ofori-Atta had his secondary school education at the Achimota School in Accra, after attending the Accra Newtown Experimental School (ANT 1).
He then proceeded to have a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the reputable Columbia University in the United States (1984), and later earned an MBA from the Yale University School of Management also in the United States in 1988.
Ken Ofori-Atta is also a member of the prominent Ofori-Atta family which has been influential in politics, law, chieftaincy, and business.
He has been touted as an astute economist and is currently the Head of the Economic Management Team of Ghana, serving under the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration.
Dr Bawumia has also come under intense pressure over this narrative especially in his position as the Head of the EMT, which overseas most economic decisions taken by government.
Prior to his political journey, Dr Bawumia worked as a former banker with vast experience from the International Monetary Fund, the Bank of Ghana, among others.
Dr Bawumia, who is currently serving as Ghana’s vice president, attended the Sakasaka Primary school in Tamale and gained admission to the Tamale Secondary School in 1975.
After graduating from the Tamale Secondary School, he went to the United Kingdom where he studied banking and obtained the Chartered Institute of Bankers Diploma (ACIB).
He earned himself a First-Class Honours Degree in Economics at Buckingham University in 1987 and later obtained a master’s degree in Economics at Lincoln College, Oxford.
Dr Bawumia has earned a Ph.D. in Economics at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1995.
He is credited for championing the governing NPP’s digitisation agenda.
Dr Bawumia specializes in macroeconomics, international economics, development economics, and monetary policy.
He attended the Methodist College and the Mfantsipim School for his primary and secondary. Dr. Addison then proceeded to the University of Ghana and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from 1982 to 1986.
From 1987 to 1989, he obtained an M.Phil in Economics and Politics from the University of Cambridge in England and later a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Economics from McGill University in Canada.
Before he was appointed Governor of the BoG, Dr Addison served as the former Director of Research at the Bank of Ghana from 2003 to 2011, as well as an Economist at the African Development Bank.
Dr. Addison specializes in financial policy and economic management.
The action came after a news conference by a number of parliamentarians from the ruling New Patriotic Party who had specifically urged that Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen, the minister of state for finance, be replaced by the president.
Seeing that their current number of 137 members is not enough to achieve the two-thirds threshold to remove the embattled minister, the deputy Minority Chief Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim, called on the over 80 NPP MPs to join them in the vote of censure against the minister.
Below are the seven points for which the Minority want Ofori-Atta censured:
a. Despicable conflict of interest ensuring that he directly benefits from Ghana’s economic woes as his companies receive commissions and other unethical contractual advantages, particularly from Ghana’s debt overhang
b. Unconstitutional withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund in blatant contravention of Article 178 of the 1992 Constitution, supposedly for the construction of the President’s Cathedral.
c. Illegal payment of oil revenues into offshore accounts, in flagrant violation of Article 176 of the 1992 Constitution.
d. Deliberate and dishonest misreporting of economic data to Parliament
e. Fiscal recklessness leading to the crash of the Ghana Cedi which is currently the worst-performing currency in the world
f. Alarming incompetence and frightening ineptitude, resulting in the collapse of the Ghanaian economy and an excruciating cost of living crisis
g. Gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy which has occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship
The motion of censure is expected to be filed today when the House convenes for business. The Minority have released a document that bears the signatures of an overwhelming majority of their members.
On Tuesday, October 25, it was reported that over 80 lawmakers from the governing New Patriotic Party had signed a petition calling for Ken Ofori-Atta to be fired as finance minister.
The group called for the dismissal of Charles Adu Boahen, a close associate of Ken Ofori-Atta and a Minister of State in the finance ministry, during a news conference.
In a meeting with the aggrieved Majority MPs on October 25, President Akufo-Addo said dismissing Ken Ofori-Atta will disrupt the ongoing negotiations geared toward an IMF programme and therefore appealed for the minister to be allowed to conclude the talks.
Earlier in the day, Majority Caucus MPs within governing NPP explained that their position follows several concerns over the poor management of the economy, which has forced the government to seek IMF assistance.
The group added that should the president fail to heed their call, they will no longer do business with the government nor support the 2023 budget.
The MP for Asante-Akim North, Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi, who introduced himself as the spokesperson for the Majority Caucus, said that several concerns raised on economic management have been sent to government, but are all yet to yield the intended results.
“The recent development within the economy is of major concern to our caucus and our constituents. We have made our grave concern known to our president through the parliamentary leadership and the leadership of the party without any positive response.”
“We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the president changes the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry without further delay in order to restore hope to the financial sector and reverse the downward trend in the growth of the economy,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo will meet the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament who want the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta be relieved of his duties.
The meeting will take place this evening, Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at 6:30 pm.
The NPP MPs argued that their attempts to get the administration take steps to assist their constituents in light of the failing economy had been ineffective.
Thus, on Tuesday, October 2022, the NPP organized a news conference to express their unhappiness and demand the resignation of Charles Adu Boahen the Minister of State for Finance, and Ken Ofori-Atta.
Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi, the Member of Parliament for the Asante-Akim North Constituency and spokesperson for the disgruntled Majority group, told the media on Tuesday that sacking Ofori-Atta and Adu Boahen will help restore confidence in Ghana’s economy.
“The recent development within the economy is of major concern to our caucus and our constituents. We have made our grave concern known to our president through the parliamentary leadership and the leadership of the party without any positive response.”
“We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the president changes the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry without further delay in order to restore hope to the financial sector and reverse the downward trend in the growth of the economy,” he added.
Several Ghanaians had mounted pressure on President Akufo-Addo to remove Mr. Ofori-Atta from office in light of the country’s current economic predicament, which has compelled government to seek support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
If Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta is not dismissed from office, a group of majority MPs in parliament have threatened to skip the 2023 budget presentation and subsequent budget debate.
Speaking to reporters on October 25, NPP MPs indicated that the position was taken in response to a number of issues with the way the economy was being managed, which has led to the request for IMF support.
However, the group declared that if the president ignores their requests, neither it nor it will support the 2023 budget.
MP for Asante-Akim North, Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi who introduced himself as the spokesperson for the Majority Caucus said several concerns raised on economic management, have been sent to government, but are yet to yield the intended results.
“We have made our grave concerns to the President through parliamentary leadership and NPP leadership without any positive response. We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the President change the Minister of Finance [Ken Ofori-Atta] and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry [Charles Adu Boahen] without further delay to restore confidence in the financial sector and reverse the downward trend in economic growth,” the lawmaker told journalists.
“The summary of our concerns leads to a plea that the Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen be removed from office. We pray that this request will be carried to the presidency,” he added.
The organization bemoaned the ongoing decline of the dollar, attributing it to bank swindlers, and demanded action from the government to stop the problem.
Their first recommendation is that Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister, be transferred to another position in the cabinet while President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo considers what to do to stop the precipitous slide of the cedi.
The group further indicated that “some forex restrictions targeted at persons undermining the system from the central bank through the commercial banks to the unlicensed forex operators.
“Investigate the banks and prosecute officials engaged in forex trading, impose import restrictions on selected items and engage multinational companies, business ventures contributing to the capital flight.”
FULL AFAG STATEMENT: Mr PRESIDENT, SPEAK & ACT NOW
The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) is a public interest advocacy group that shares a lot of centre-right positions on issues that are often in sync with the ideological philosophy of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Over the years, AFAG has been quiet out of goodwill toward Government. However, given recent developments, we are forced to depart from our current position on national development.
Mr President, it is our considered opinion that the current speed of the cedi depreciation is borne out of the mischief of speculators and is purely artificial.
Although it will reflect various challenges with the balance of payment due to post covid and Ukraine, there is some panic buying, a lack of confidence and a high degree of uncertainty in the financial market.
Mr President, there is a particular conspiracy theory that points to the central bank’s supervision of the forex market as weak. It is believed that high-placed persons in the central and commercial banks with profit motives auction dollars at an interbank rate, cheaper to the black markets, who then sell it on the market at very high speeds.
It is also the belief that people in business in the subregions are contributing to the volatile situation by coming into Ghana to sell their currency and buy dollars for cheap in Ghana, and after that, sending it to their countries (where dollars are pretty expensive). Mr President, this is among others.
Mr President, also critical is the mass belief by Ghanaians that the minister of finance is doing very little to shore up confidence in the market. Nonetheless, but arguably so, there is a broad perception of him not doing much, coupled with his attack on the IMF.
The finance minister believes that going to IMF has a dire effect on the economy and that Ghana won’t seek any support from the IMF. AFAG finds it inconsistent of him, therefore, to lead the IMF negotiations or remain in office now that the government is seeking a bailout.
Mr President, it is time to present an economic recovery plan to the nation. IMF intervention would not be enough to salvage the situation.
Over the period, you have not also addressed the country. We find this highly unusual based on how in the past, you have fostered cooperation from Ghanaians through your frequent addresses during the covid crisis. We will need you to reduce anxiety in the system and let Ghanaians know the “whys” and “hows”.
RESOLUTION:
● The minister of finance and the Minister of State at the Ministry, Ken Ofori Atta and Charles Adu Boahen must be reassigned
● some forex restrictions targeted at persons undermining the system, from the central bank through the commercial banks to the unlicensed forex operators
● investigate the banks and prosecute officials engaged in forex trading
● impose import restrictions on selected items
● engaging multinational companies and business ventures contributing to the capital flight.
● restricting the forex export to a certain level, at least in the next six months.
● Ensuring traders who export US dollars from Ghana annually have imported about an equal amount to the country.
● Encourage Ghanaians to understand why the current rates are artificial and how they will trade at a loss when the market settles, and the cedi benchmarks to the US Dollar at its real value.
President of Imani Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has said the FX Committee set up by government to help tackle the depreciation of the Cedi did its best to advise government on the local currency notwithstanding, the Cedi has become the most worthless against the US Dollar.
In a social media post, Mr Cudjoe noted that the FX Committee tried to prevent the Cedi from becoming the most worthless against the US Dollar, adding that the government should have just dealt with the problem of the Cedi depreciation rather than set up a committee on it.
“The Ghanaian currency, the Cedi is officially the most worthless against the $. My Cedi Committee did its best to advice against this eventually. Alas, when you see a snake, just kill it. No need setting up a Committee on snakes,” Mr Cudjoe revealed.
Government in 2020 set up an FX Committee made to advise it on how to stem the depreciation of the Cedi, particularly against the US Dollar.
The establishment of the committee, named the FX Developments Committee, is in fulfilment of a promise made by the ministry to constitute a bi-partisan committee to look into the problem and help address it.
Inaugurating the committee, Deputy Finance Minister, Charles Adu Boahen said the committee will work to complement the efforts of the Bank of Ghana in curtailing the usual poor performance of the cedi against other major foreign currencies.
“The formation of this committee is not to infringe on the independence of the central bank in its foreign exchange operations,” he said.
The admission of failure by Franklin Cudjoe, who controversially accepted to be a member of the Committee, puts paid to claims that the committee has not had any impact on the value of the Cedi.
The management of Black Star, a business owned by Charles Adu Boahen, has denied allegations that it caused the state to lose $5 million through its investment in Asante Gold through Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF).
“This is patently false and deliberately misleading. Black Star was never engaged by MIIF, as falsely alleged, to advise it on any private placement to do with the shares of Asante Gold Corporation,†the statement stressed.
The management in the statement further explained, “Black Star treats all allegations against it seriously and will review all internal processes and take appropriate action where necessary to safeguard all its stakeholders.
“Lastly, the management of the Black Star would also like to reassure all stakeholders that they have always adhered to all regulatory requirements and have executed their mandate to the highest standards of practice in the financial markets.â€
The Ministry of Finance has, on the other hand, dismissed a similar report that Databank and Black Star Brokerage linked to Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen were handpicked by the Ministry and Bank of Ghana to act as Bond Market Specialists for government bond issuance, hence benefiting from those transactions.
In a statement, the Ministry explained that “the selection of the Primary Dealers [PDs] and Bond Market Specialists [BMSs] is an automatic process based on market performance and historical secondary market trading activity which is publicly available and cannot be manipulated by the Ministry of Finance [MoF] or the Bank of Ghana [BoG].
“Since 1996, the Ministry of Finance with the Bank of Ghana has developed and implemented various policies which affect the issuance and trading of Government of Ghana debt securities (Treasuries and Bonds). The ultimate objectives of these policies are to develop an efficient fixed income market, strengthen the capacity of local institutions and deepen financial intermediation.”
It indicated, however, that Databank and Black Star Brokerage are two out of nine firms that have been selected by BoG/MoF as Bond Market Specialists and not Advisors to MoF, adding, “the other firms selected to be BMSs are Ecobank, Stanbic Bank, ABSA, Cal Bank, GCB Bank, Fidelity Bank, and IC Securities. As stated above, the selection of the firms was solely based on their historical performance on the Bond Market and no other considerationâ€.
Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen has indicated government’s keenness to selling diaspora bonds to Ghanaians living abroad.
According to him, the central government is carefully exploring a number of strategies to implement the best possible idea for the move.
In an interaction with Business24 monitored by GhanaWeb, the minister of state said a preliminary analysis of the diaspora bonds has so far shown how challenging it could be.
“The challenge about diaspora bonds is that to sell them, you have to have permission to distribute retail. So, if you are in America and you want to sell diaspora bonds to an investor base, you have to actually distribute or market it to every individual. [Because] every state in America has different rules when it comes to selling securities to individuals, you have to have a whole distribution team of brokers all over the country.
“Each one of them has to abide by the rules to be able to sell the products to individuals and then try and generate the funds. When we looked at the total market and what it would take to do that kind of set-up, it was very challenging,†he told Business24.
He continued: “It would be easier if we could sell a Ghanaian product like a domestic bond and have people remit their funds here and buy the bond. So, we are looking at different structures that would work and appeal to everybody, but also [so that] we would not run into regulatory impediments.â€
As part of measures to rake in funds to undertake social and environmental projects, the Government of Ghana has targeted to raise some US$1 billion through the sale of sustainable bonds on the international capital market.
Ghana is also seeking to issue its first green bonds with the move likely to go ahead in November this year, according to sources familiar with the matter.